A PLANNING application for a proposed residential development of up to 20 new dwellings in Kilkhampton has recently been objected by the parish council.
The planning, applied for by Mrs J Elliott and Mrs G Jenn was proposed for an area in West Street, which is the oldest and one of the smallest roads in Kilkhampton. The street has already had ten additional houses approved, which will add to the other developments in and around the village.
Designed by Trewin Design Architects, the application proposal looked to provide a residential development consisting of 20 residential dwellings comprising six affordable and 14 open market dwellings.
As stated on the Cornwall Council planning website, on April 2, Kilkhampton Parish Council objected to the application, based on the density of the houses stating they felt 20 was ‘too many’. They also expressed concern with the amount of traffic flow through West Street.
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A place that is notorious for slow traffic, especially during the summer period, will see further increase to the congestion issues if the plans went ahead, according to one local, Rollo Mcgrath. Former parish council chairman, Rollo has lived in the village for all 58 years of his life and is against the application. He said: “The village is expanding by up to 100 homes in the near future with no infrastructure to support it.
“The school is full as are the doctors and dentists in Bude. However highways propose traffic calming measures in West Street in what will be a very congested street in the first place. It will ruin the look of this historic old street. Traffic flows slowly anyway because the street is already narrow.”
Many comments objecting to the application for similar reasons were made on the Cornwall planning website.
However, the applicant consulted with the Countryside Access Team in respect of this planning application and they confirmed that Countryside Access Team, in its role as highway authority for public rights of way, had no objection to the proposals.
- What are your thoughts, should there be more affordable housing in rural villages, or is there already too much overdevelopment in your area? Let us know by emailing [email protected] or by sending us a letter.